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Sunday, April 13, 2014

Atrocious Sariska

Atrocious Sariska

Inside the Sariska Tiger Reserve

After deliberating
over the issue regarding whether to write about the Sariska Tiger Reserve or to
give it a skip, I finally arrived at the conclusion that if I do not share my
experiences, a lot many people, who sometimes go through my blogs may get
conned at Sariska. I was saved the
blushes, as I had not gone there for a full blown holiday to Sariska, but was just
passing by for a day visit while returning from Bharatpur and its famed
‘Keoladeo Ghana National Park’ (KGNP) for short. After seeing the beautiful photographs that
cropped up at the various websites, as soon as you seek ‘Sariska’ in Google
search, I too was entrapped into visiting the destination.

A small hamlet across the dhaba where we had B'fast

We had planned to
start very early in the morning, for our return leg from Bharatpur (as detailed
in my previous blogs) to Delhi and the morning again turned out to be very
foggy and hence I decided to delay our start.
However, as the fog had not lifted even by 9.00 A.M, we decided to
proceed with our return journey, driving very slowly. After having driven about 10 Kms. or so, we
saw the first big casualty of the fog on the road, a State Roadways bus had met
with a collision with another vehicle and hit the road divider before coming to
a stop (check out the video link attached below). We had proceeded on the road leading though
Mahawa, Rajgarh and crossing through the extreme end of Sariska before
officially entering its precincts through Tehla, which is about 110 Kms. from
Bharatpur. However, about having
traveled for about 25-30 Kms. the fog lifted from the roads, as if it never
existed and I think the cause of the fog was the water body in Bharatpur. Having traveled for about 50 Kms. or so we
stopped for having our B’fast in a road side dhaba. We had a sumptuous treat of fresh Aloo
Paranthas with farm fresh butter and some coriander leaves thrown in to enhance
the aroma & taste and accompanied with a hot cup of tea, it was a real
treat in the lap of nature.

As we head into the Aravallies on way to Sariska

We
turned towards Rajgarh from Mahawa, although the Agra Bikaner State Highway was
in excellent state, the initial entry through the town was a bit congested but
thereafter the road was fine upto a few Kilometers and thereafter, the road
being under construction slowed down our pace considerably, as the road surface
was uneven and even missing altogether at some places. We struggled to keep pace and after a
horrendous road journey reached the Sariska entry gate from Tahela side, much
delayed from our planned time of arrival.
One has to purchase a entry permit for entering the Sariska Tiger
Reserve and from this side of Sariska, no public transportation is available
and being a Tuesday, the locals were allowed inside to visit the ancient
‘Hanuman temple’ albeit only on motorcycles.
This road is to be closed as per Hon’ble Supreme Court directions, but
due to local pressure it is still open and despite the warning of speed limit
of 30 Kms. per hour, I found locals driving through the destination at break
neck speeds with no means of monitoring this by the forest department. There are 28 villages situated inside the
precincts of the Sariska Tiger Reserve and attempts are being made to relocate
them. Thanks to the notorious poacher
Late Sansar Chand, the Tiger reserve is bereft of any tiger population, but the
local management in collusion with the private resort owners etc. make a
killing by projecting the reserve as being one of the best.

Going past Rajgarh - some ancient ramparts

Just beyond Rajgarh, ruins of some ancient temple on shores of a large lake

Having
purchased the entry permit for my vehicle by paying Rs.250/-, I entered the
Sariska Tiger Reserve with great expectations and with my Camera ready for some
action. However, just after entering the
reserve I found that women, in hordes were returning after collecting firewood
from the forest, right under the nose of the forest guards. I then knew fully well that there was nothing
to fear in these forests, but our driver kept insisting that there were some
wild animals inside the forest reserve and we decided not to take any careless
decision in this regard and being a Government servant thought it wise to stick
inside the car. This road that traverses
through the heart of the so called Tiger reserve, which in turn connects
Rajgarh with Alwar via Tehla, it is quite a busy road. Despite being an ardent devotee of Lord
Hanuman, having being delayed considerably due to bad roads, I decided to skip
my scheduled visit to this ancient temple atop the fort inside the Tiger
Reserve. We were keeping to the speed
limit prescribed and neither using horns etc., but the other vehicles were
being driven at break neck speeds, throwing up a cloud of dust in the
aftermath. We tried very hard to locate
some wildlife, but were not able to find anything except for some peacocks,
peahens and wild pigs.

As we descent towards Tehla, view from top of the hill

The vast expanse of the Sariska forests

After
having traversed more than 2/3rd of the journey inside the Tiger
Reserve, I saw a few local couples on motorcycles, who would occasionally stop
on the road and get down to adjust their belongings etc. for a couple of
minutes and then move on. After a while
I spotted a few couples sitting by the road side, with their bikes parked a few
meters away and I thought that the same was allowed on the road. Suddenly, I spotted some white feathered bird
and as could not get a good look from the vehicle, I alighted and tried to take
a shot of it with my zoom lens, but found that it was some kind of cotton etc.
that was hanging on the branch. Just as
I was moving back to my vehicle, a local Gypsy carrying tourist approached and
started questioning as to why I was moving outside, since I could make out that
he was a private operator, I did not answer him and returned to my vehicle and
we moved off. The vehicle kept following
us upto a kilometer or so and thereafter, it moved off into a dirt track. We slowly made our way forward, hoping
fervently to spot some wild life or bird.
The actual shocker came the moment we reached the exit gate, the guard
came out gesticulating and stating that I was his culprit. When I asked him as to what was the reason
for stopping us, he informed that I had strayed into the core area of the
forest. When I confronted him with the
fact that the vehicle I was traveling in was not meant to be driven on dirt
tracks and therefore, it was not possible for me to have driven there. The next allegation was that I got down on
the road, but when I confronted him that what about the two couples who were
sitting on the road side and those two had been asked politely by the safari
driver to move on, what action had been taken by them against those two and as
to where were they? The guard got
baffled and was really got out of his mind, when I told him of my identity, but
after some more ramblings he let us go after my wife intervened, because the children were disturbed by this
behavior.

No other wildlife except for some Peahens

No wildlife in Sariska can be seen except for some wild pigs

Sariska
Tiger Reserve has no tigers and hence this tag should be removed and it should
only be declared as a Wildlife Reserve.
It is evident from the incident narrated hereinabove that there is a
nexus between the local operators and the forest guards, who make every
possible attempt to discourage the use private vehicles and only to collude to
allow the private run tour operators inside the Reserve, from whom they get
some monetary benefits???? In case you
have got some time to waste and only interested in a holiday in a good resort
and seeing wildlife is not a priority for you, then you may visit Sariska or
else give this atrocious place a miss, which will not only save you some money
but also the hassles by some lowly placed forest guards, who do not do their
duty for preserving the Wildlife reserve but to fill their pockets by colluding
with private operators and harassing nature lovers… the choice of course is
yours to make.

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